Called to the Templeby Angie
17 Apr 2009
3:04 pm1
Wednesday was a beautiful day for driving to the Temple. As I was on the road home, I realized that I never put up a post about the calling that brought me there, so here is the news:
Back in January, I was invited to serve as a volunteer in the Oakland Temple Family File Office, so I work a six-hour shift there each Wednesday. I absolutely love it! I answer the phone and transfer calls, I check in and out the study sheets that the Ordinance Workers use, print family file cards from the new request sheets that NewFamilySearch creates, and – my favorite thing of all – record ordinances that have been completed, then stamp and file the cards. I’ve also had the opportunity to do Records Verification (talking with members who have come for living ordinances and putting their paperwork together), and I run any little errands that come up for the full-time staff. Everyone is pleasant and kind, even when I make mistakes. It is wonderful, and I love doing it.
Wheather the weather be cold…by Angie
14 Apr 2009
5:04 pm0
They tell us that California is facing a drought – this is the third year in a row that we have had severe shortages in precipitation, snowpack, reservoirs, etc. It’s hard to believe it on days like today. I’m sitting at my desk with the window open beside me, while Jaquie and I stare outside at the pouring rain. It smells wonderful. Our skies can’t seem to decide whether it’s really spring or not: it’s been warm and clear and beautiful in the last week, but today’s downpour makes it feel more like a California January than April. As I drove across the Dumbarton Bridge this morning, there were signs up to warn drivers of high winds – crossing the span, I could really feel them battering my car. Tomorrow’s forcast promises bright sun, clear skies, and temperatures in the 50°s, though. It will be a lovely day for a drive to the Temple.
The Message of Easterby Angie
12 Apr 2009
3:04 pm0
Postcardsby Angie
8 Apr 2009
11:04 pm0
Since I know we have readers from several different states, I wanted to pass along a request from my cousin, Becky, on behalf of her daughter’s kindergarten class:
Hey friends,
I’m wondering if you all could do me a favor. My daughter’s kindergarten class is learning about maps and globes right now. They are hoping to get people who live in different states and countries to send a postcard to the class so they can learn about different places and find those places on the maps. I was hoping you could all send a postcard from where you live to Alixie’s class for me. You can send them to:
Mrs. Black’s Class
13717 S. Shaggy Peak Dr.
Riverton, UT 84096
Then if you could just write: To Alixie and class, and then give a few facts or details about the place you live, that would be great! If you could mail the postcards by this Saturday that would be the best 🙂
I would REALLY, REALLY appreciate your help in this, I figure the more postcards they get the more my child will actually learn, so I’m really trying to do my part to round some up!!!
Thanks so much,
Becky
Kitty on the Mendby Angie
7 Apr 2009
4:04 pm2
Jaquie’s lab results came back with mostly very good news: No feline leukemia or AIDS, no thyroid problems. Most everything was normal except for elevated liver enzymes and slight anemia. It looks like something made her a little sick, and then not eating for so long and becoming dehydrated just compounded the problem. I took her back in today for a 2nd round of the same injection as yesterday, and bought all new food to replace the old stuff.
Besides being irritated at having to go back to the vet, have another injection, and ride around in her carrier again – in the RAIN, no less – Jaquie is already looking more normal. I’m so relieved!
Trip to the Vetby Angie
6 Apr 2009
4:04 pm0
Jaqueline has had a very trying day. We looked online last night and found a place called Altamont Cat Hospital. Besides being only a two minute drive away, it had several high reviews online. I called them first thing this morning and made an appointment for 10:40 – their earliest available. I left a message for Jim telling him when I was heading over, then had the unenviable task of forcing Jaquie into her carrier. She cried during the entire drive.
After filling out some forms, the nurse took me and the little patient back to an exam room. Jaquie was weighed, her teeth examined, and her ears and eyes explored. The nurse asked me several questions, then left us alone while she reported to the doctor. Dr. Matthews came in next; she poked and prodded and rubbed and stretched, as she discussed her concerns and possible prognoses with me. She looked relieved when I agreed to the tests and initial therapies she felt were necessary.
First was a blood test, requiring a small spot of skin on Jaquie’s neck to be shaved. She actually had to be poked twice, because the first draw “hyper-coagulated” almost as soon as it was out, and was rendered unusable. I have no idea what that might indicate, and Dr. Matthews either wasn’t forthcoming or simply didn’t know either. Then came x-rays, which didn’t turn up anything definite. Next was the terribly insulting thermometer, with a perfectly normal reading.
Last of all was something to help her begin to feel better right away: because Jaquie is very dehydrated, they gave her a subcutaneous injection of fluids, with a few medications mixed in (antibiotics, and some Zofran to help pique her appetite). It took a long time, but Jim showed up at that point and Dr. Matthews was able to explain what they were injecting and show him the x-rays and everything. We finished up, brought Jaquie home, and gave her some of the special “anorexic diet” food that the vet sent with us, of which she is getting about a teaspoon an hour.
It was quite an ordeal but, once home, I really think it was worth it – she has been eating the new food quite willingly, and already seems more perky. We’ll know more difinitevely when the lab results come back tomorrow or the next day, but so far it seems that she’s on the mend.
Skinny Kittyby Angie
5 Apr 2009
9:04 am1
Last night, Jon (who is staying over for Conference weekend) mentioned that Jaquie was looking a little thin, and I was inclined to agree. When Jim and I were upstairs later, getting ready for bed, the subject came up again. We had noticed that she had missed some easy jumps in the last week or so (scraping up my leg on one of them), and that she has seemed an odd combination of physically placid but more “talkative” than normal. None of these individual symptoms had seemed alarming, but when we began to consider them together, we started to worry.
We wondered if she was hungry, but Jim said he had checked before coming upstairs and her food dish was full. Then he asked me when was the last time I actually put food in her bowl. When I answered, “Over a week ago, I think,” his eyes went wide with concern. He couldn’t remember the last time he had filled her dish, either. He thought I had been doing it, while I thought he had. This, apparently, is the downside to the whoever-notices-it-empty-fills-it system.
I gave her a couple of treats I keep in our room that she adores, and she gobbled them up. They were hard, so that ruled out anything wrong with her teeth. Then Jim took her downstairs to examine the food dish in question. Apparently, some of the hard food had gotten wet and was clumped, so he dumped it all out, and gave her all new food and water. She wasn’t much interested in the new food either, though. He then offered her some tuna, and she was willing to eat a little of that – not entirely encouraging, however, since she’s usually willing to eat a lot of tuna.
Poor thing – she must have just been starving for a week! She had a little more tuna with some dry food mixed in this morning. I’m just hoping that the wet, old food was the culprit and that she’ll bounce back quickly.